Mitt Romney Lost the Election Because He Was a Prick to a Bartender

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Okay, so that headline is a little over-the-top. Scott Prouty, the bartender who leaked Mitt Romney's infamous 47-percent speech at a $50,000-a-plate Boca Raton fundraiser, also told the Huffington Post that he released the video because he felt he had a "civic duty" to fulfill, and he also told Ed Schultz, "I thought it could be a game-changer. I thought it could take him out." Hear, hear. But Prouty also mentioned that unlike Clinton before him, Romney did not stop in the back to thank the chefs or go to take pictures with the waiters or the rest of the catering crew — you know, voters. And Mitt's failure to do so influenced Prouty's decision to share the footage that ended the election.

It makes sense. A restaurant is a telling place; it requires an uncommon level of nuanced and forthright etiquette from patrons, toward a staff often with limited means for the defense of their dignity. And so it's no surprise that the sentiment of Romney's 47-percent speech so closely parallels his disinterest in the staff, as Prouty described Mitt's ordering of a diet Coke (with a lemon twist):

"He took it and turned and didn't say anything. I presented him the exact right drink that he wanted… Had it there, sitting there on a napkin. He took it out of my hand and turned his back without a 'thank you' or anything else."

(Before we continue, full disclosure time: I've worked in restaurants. It's a fellowship that necessarily bonds over empathy and drinks on Sundays. I will forever side with those who work in them. And thus I will also not link to the recent Michael Wolff crotchetiness here, even to ever-so-gracefully disparage it — because that would add a certain level of value to his position that it doesn't deserve.)

You can tell a lot about a man from how he treats those working at a restaurant — more so than how he treats those he's dining with. There are signs: If he snaps his fingers. If he doesn't offer his thanks at the end of every interaction, even to the hosts on the way out. If he chooses to take a photo of his meal. If he complains that he didn't know a menu item came as described. Or, and I'm going to disagree with John Mariani, if he doesn't overtip — or, rather, regularly tip more than is expected of him. Not as an excuse to whip out and wiggle a wallet plump with cash. But out of respect and generosity and a general understanding that while the payment protocol of eating establishments remain arcane to most — for instance, that to be considered a tipped employee under federal law (though it varies from state to state), you only need to make $30 in tips a month — their quirks and servile position don't create an opportunity for the taking of advantage. Twenty-percent or don't go out. (Go ahead and complain — it's telling.)

So when Romney didn't say "thank you," at an event that wasn't a planned photo op to paint him as an everyman, even only when he's getting a diet Coke with a lemon twist, it meant a lot more. In fact, it meant everything.